The Frog Prince
by Lady Nogitsune
Summary: Once, in olden times, when wishes still had power, there lived a king... and his son got hit on the head by a stick. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or at least, it was a beginning. LelouchxSuzaku.
1. Prologue

All right, I did it.

My randomness just reached new heights. As always, I blame Clovis. I think he secretly ships LuluSuza. Actually, I believe he ships about every pairing involving Lelouch, but he favours LuluSuza. There's just no other explanation for this!

As you might already have guessed, this is a Code Geass version of "The Frog Prince".

A somewhat... different version.

Enjoy!

**Chapter Title:** Random Prologue of Doom

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** LelouchxSuzaku, SuzakuxLelouch - feel free to change the order to suit your tastes!

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**Prologue**

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Once, in olden times, when wishes still had power, there lived a King.

The King himself was not particularly blessed with pulchritude, but he had one-hundred-seven beautiful wives, all of whom had equally beautiful children. Each of them originated from a long line of nobility and even royalty, and they took pride in the knowledge that the blood flowing through their veins was of the most pure and precious kind, so exquisite that they had been deemed worthy by the King himself.

However, amongst them, there was one exception.

The King's most beloved consort had not a single blue-blooded ancestor – she was a commoner by birth, and in her heart, would never truly belong to the court. But the King did not mind, for she possessed a fire the others did not, and her children were no less extraordinary than herself.

There was a girl, so tender and sweet that only one of her many sisters could rival her innocent kindness. Despite her young age and the abundance all around her, she was modest and conscious of other people's needs, showing compassion towards even the lowliest of her subjects who, in return, loved her as much as a child Princess could be possibly loved by her people.

But maybe even more remarkable than her was her brother. He, also, was kind at heart and adored by many; but where his younger sister was open and often jaunty, he was more reserved and exceedingly prideful. By the time he was nine, he was already known throughout the land for his outstanding intellect that was only rivalled by one of his brothers, a man who had seen many more summers than him.

The young Prince was also beautiful - of delicate built, but graceful rather than frail. It was whispered amongst the servants working at the palace that even the sun, who saw so much, was dazzled by his appearance when it shown upon his face, and it was only a single one of his siblings who possessed both the self-esteem and personality to openly regard himself to be of equal beauty. If one had asked a neutral party, they would have been told that the Prince in question might indeed possess the looks to back up his claim, but was so vain that his younger brother was certainly more _lovely_ than him.

But life is hardly constant.

The beautiful Prince did not cry when his mother disappeared one day, nor did he cry when he was told that none of the King's men had done anything to find her. There were only shock and confusion, and, later on, when his father, who had been thought to love them so dearly, dismissed him like a bothersome fly, anger. He became cold and hateful, and from that day on, he was only admired from afar.

Behind closed doors, the people praised the boy's strong will and perseverance, traits valued very highly in the Kingdom, but they did not dare say anything, for the young Prince had angered his father. Rumour had it that the King had called upon the evil witch that ruled over the forests and lakes to punish his insolent son.

"You are arrogant," the King said half a year later – the witch had been busy eating the national dish in the palace's cuisine until then - in a booming voice that made the Prince freeze in fear, "for even though I have given you food and clothing, and every single one of the riches you possess, you challenge me as if it were your right. You have never achieved a thing on your own, and therefore, you yourself are nothing. You were alive because I wanted you to be, and now that you have lost my favour, you shall be dead – to me and my Kingdom, and to the whole world besides."

And the witch, whose heart was ice, followed the King's command for reasons that she knew no mortal could ever comprehend. However, when she laid hand on the shocked boy's forehead to place the ever-lasting curse upon him, she felt the same melting flames touch her heart that had burned within his mother, and paused in her actions.

Without words, she spoke to him, "I am the feared witch that even the elements bow to, and it has been decided that I shall bring you pain and suffering. But I also shall bestow a gift upon you, if it is your wish to continue living amongst men even though you will no longer be one yourself, and if you promise to fulfil my wish when the time comes."

And because the Prince did not want to die, he accepted her terms.

When the morning came, he was declared dead, taken by the evil witch that lived in the forests. The people could not remember what had transpired between him and the King, and they grieved their monarch's loss.

The boy's gentle sisters cried many nights, and the brother who rivalled his intelligence almost did the same only a few months later out of sheer boredom. Even the most narcissistic of his siblings...-

Well, actually, after five years or so, the vain Prince's all but humble self-esteem caused him to boldly visit the forests his brother had supposedly been killed in, and the dryads found him to be so charming that he soon learned from them what had _really_ happened to his brother. And even though the witch's magic – or rather, her threat to cut off his beautiful hair and turn it into an ingredient for her favourite meal - prevented him from saying anything, the only tears he was crying from there on were those of laughter.


	2. The Well and the Stick

_*waves*_

I'm really happy that the prologue was so well received! I would give cake to everyone who left a comment, but C.C. told me that cake is bad, and when I followed her suggestion and went for pizza instead, she locked me inside a closet and ate it all by herself!

I stole Cheese-kun, though.

...Or, well, I would have if I was a little less fond of my life.

But anyway. On it goes!

**Chapter Title:** The Well and the Stick

**Rating:** T

**Pairing:** LelouchxSuzaku, SuzakuxLelouch - feel free to change the order to suit your tastes!

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Suzaku Kururugi was bored.

His father rarely had time for him, and the servants in the mansion never were anything but formal in his presence. Since the children in the village feared both his political and physical power and he disliked them for their cowardice, he had no friends his age, and the person he was maybe closest to, his tutor, had recently been sent as a delegate to the the King of the neighbouring country. Since the Kururugi family was only of noble, not royal, blood, the foreign King did not accept their claim to the land, and steps had to be taken to avoid war.

Or so his tutor said.

The Kingdom of Britannia was evil and hated by everyone – Suzaku didn't understand why Toudou would bother to negotiate with them when it was clear that war was the only possible outcome. Everyone in the village said so.

Toudou had told him he was too young to comprehend the full implications of a lack of diplomatic action, but even though Suzaku usually took every word his tutor said to heart, he had trouble believing that he was wrong in this case. It frustrated him that he didn't understand the man's reasoning, and when he remembered this as he trained alone in the dark forests surrounding the mansion because he didn't know what else to do, he put more force into the activity than necessary. Eventually, he became so distracted that his grip on his sword was no longer proper, and before he could readjust it, it was sent flying into the deep well nearby.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed. Realizing that there was no way he could get it out of there again, he angrily punched the surface of the water.

A few minutes later, the tears came. He tried to stop them, but found that he couldn't. The sword had been a present from his tutor – what would Toudou say when he found out that he had lost it, in an angry outburst like this no less? It was shameful, even more so than his tears.

"Could you stop being so God damn noisy?" a voice startled him out of his misery. Suzaku looked up, just to find himself staring at an ugly little frog.

"Did you just..."

"Speak?" the frog finished for him. "Don't look so surprised. If an idiot like you can manage it, it can't be so hard. At least you stopped sniffling. It's bad enough you are an uncouth brute – you don't need to be a pathetic one, too."

"What?"

"Don't sound so indignant. Here I am, minding my own business... and suddenly, I get _hit on the head by a stick_."

"It's a sword!"

"Sword, stick, a snake that has entered rigor mortis... do you think I care? Such a cheap thing can't possibly justify disturbing my sleep! And then you behave like the barbaric peasant you are, making noise and even laying your filthy hands upon my precious water!"

"It's not cheap! And I'm no peasant," Suzaku huffed. "And anyway, you're one to talk – I don't think I've ever seen something so ugly in my life!"

"How old are you, seven? Maybe you should take a look into the mirror some time."

"I'm twelve! And I won't let some puny _frog_ insult me! I'm Suzaku Kururugi, and I make as much noise as I want to!"

The small creature didn't seem impressed. "Kururugi?" it asked instead, and then proceeded to look at him unblinkingly. Suzaku got the feeling it was contemplating something, but what could his family's name possibly mean to a frog? "I have a proposition for you," the unsightly amphibian suddenly declared.

"A proposition?"

"You want that stick of yours back, right? Sword," the frog amended when Suzaku opened his mouth to protest, accentuating the word in a way that made it sound like 'stick' anyway. "I will get it for you... if you agree to take me with you."

"Take you with me? What should a frog want with me? And more importantly, what should _I_ want with a frog?"

The hideous animal looked annoyed. "_You_ want your toy back," Suzaku wanted to correct the frog – his sword was no toy! -, but it continued without giving him the chance, "and I am sick of this God damn well. Let me eat from your plate, drink from your cup, and sleep in your bed at night. If you do that, I will return to you your pitiful excuse of a comfort blanket."

"It's a-"

"Sword, yes, I'm not slow." _Unlike you_, the tone seemed to imply. "Now, do we have a deal or not?"

Suzaku fixed the frog with an angry stare. "Fine!" he said. He didn't have anything to lose, after all – it was doubtful that the small frog would be able to drag such a large item up from the ground of the well, and even if it _did_ manage the feat somehow, there was nothing that bound him to his word. A promise made to a frog wasn't really a promise – not if the frog had been nothing but rude to him.

"Good." The frog stepped aside. "See that water plant there? It's caught up in it – you just need to reach in."

"What? But you said it hit you on the head!"

"Idiot! Do you think frogs sleep underwater? I'm an amphibian, not a fish!"

"You cheated!"

"So what? Life isn't a children's game. Even if there were rules, they'd be meant to be broken."

"You-"

"Can we go now? I don't think I can stand the sight of this well for even a second longer."

"The only one who will be going anywhere is _me_! You cheated and insulted me – don't think I will do anything for you!" He grabbed his sword and pulled it out of the water, turning away angrily.

"What! How dare you! We had an agreement-"

"You can't make an agreement with a frog!" Suzaku shouted back, continuing on his way without pause.

"Stop! _Return here this instant_!"

Suzaku ignored the order. Who did that frog think it was?

"I won't stand for this!" the animal cried after him, and Suzaku noticed that it sounded closer than before. He turned around, and indeed... the thing was following him!

He fastened his pace, but he could still hear the frog behind him. It were no longer angry shouts that were assaulting his ears, though, but the frog's breathing – even though it had only been a few steps, the thing sounded as if it had been running for hours already. For a tiny little frog, the noises it made were incredibly loud.

Suddenly, Suzaku heard a cough behind him, followed by a pitiful croak. He glanced over his shoulder. The frog was lying in the grass on its back, motionless, and for a moment, Suzaku felt satisfaction course through him - served the insolent creature right!

The moment of triumph was quickly ruined by guilt, though.

He stopped and, after a short moment of hesitation, moved back to kneel down next to the little animal. It didn't move.

Carefully, he reached out to poke it – still nothing.

Was it dead? Had he... had he killed it?

There was a terrible feeling in his gut.

He kept his eyes locked on the frog, unable to look away, and suddenly, he saw the tiny chest lift and fall – everything but effortlessly, but that didn't diminish the relief he felt.

Gently, he picked the little animal up. It was still ugly... but Suzaku actually didn't mind that. Only girls played with pretty things, and just as he sometime spent time in the woods looking for snakes and spiders, he rather liked frogs.

If they weren't going around insulting him, that is.

But even if it hadn't been very polite towards him, he couldn't just leave it there. In the state it was in, it could easily be found by a hungry cat or bird and end up as their breakfast, and not even a talking amphibian with an ego the size of the country deserved that.

And Suzaku had to admit, he was curious.

How was it that a little frog he could smash with his bare hands if he wanted to was this persistent, when all his peers cowered at a mere look from him?

x x x

Suzaku watched as the frog slowly opened its eyes, twitched... and lost consciousness again.

He huffed.

That had been the third time now! How often could anyone do that before they finally got it right?

But just when he was about to turn around and leave for dinner, the little creature suddenly showed signs of life again. First it lifted one eyelid, then the other... and then it carefully sat up.

"Finally awake?" Suzaku asked.

The frog looked at him, startled. "You..."

"You didn't look very good, so I brought you here."

The little creature's gaze swept around the room. "Is this were you live?"

"Yes," Suzaku confirmed, not without pride. "This is the Kururugi mansion."

"...Are all the bedrooms here so small?"

"Small?" Suzaku repeated disbelievingly. "This room is the size of a small house!"

"As I said: _small_."

"What would a frog like you know about bedrooms?"

"More than you, apparently. Where I come from, something like this would be considered a suitable wardrobe at best."

"Liar! There are no wardrobes in a well!"

The frog sniffed disdainfully. "No one said anything about a well."

"What? Are you saying you ask people to take you home often?"

"Idiot! That's not what I meant! I would never step so low as to ask someone to take me in like some stray dog."

"But that's what you did in the forest earlier, isn't it?"

"Imbecile!" Suzaku wondered if the frog was incapable of forming sentences that weren't accompanied by an insult. "I didn't _ask_ anything of you – it's not my fault you don't abide by the contracts you enter."

"I told you, you can't have a deal with an animal!"

"Why not?"

"Because... you just can't. And you were being rude – you can't expect people to like you if you behave like that!"

"I never asked you to _like_ me. I just demanded that you keep your word. And apparently, you did... even though I have to wonder why. Didn't you want to get rid of me?"

"Well, I couldn't very well leave you there, could I? You could have died!"

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'? I'm not going around letting people... or frogs... die if I can help it!"

The frog looked at him in silence for a moment. "You are strange," it eventually said.

"_I_ am strange? Until I met you, I didn't know someone could faint four times in a row!"

"I did not _faint_!" the frog objected, its voice strangely squeaky, and somehow, Suzaku got the feeling that if it had been human, it would have been blushing. "And anyway, it's your fault for breaking your word - you almost killed me!"

Suzaku sobered. "I know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

The frog stared at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry," Suzaku repeated. "I shouldn't have... I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

The frog blinked slowly. "You really are a strange one. All right," it continued imperiously, "I suppose I can forgive you. You might not make such a bad servant, after all."

"_Servant_?"

"Of course. What kind of relationship do you think I was hinting at that would allow me to sleep in your bed? Playfellows? Husband and wife?" The frog snorted. "You really _are_ an idiot."

Suzaku felt his face heating up. "I never thought of those things! And since when do servants sleep in the same bed as their masters?"

The frog shrugged – the gesture looked strangely natural on it. "It's not the rule, but it seems to be fairly common. My brother did it all the time with the maids, and no one thought anything of it."

Suzaku blinked. "I didn't know that frogs have maids."

"Of course you didn't – because they don't! Really, just how dense are you? This can't be normal!"

"Stop calling me an idiot! You just don't make any sense – that's the problem!"

"If it makes you feel better. Now, is there something to eat to be found around here? I'm feeling rather hungry."

"What do frogs eat, anyway? Flies?"

The amphibian made a sound of disgust. "Thankfully, that's the one thing I was spared from. Even though there was that one time... no, I'd rather not think about it. As I said earlier, I'll eat whatever it is you are having. Provided you're not as much of a barbarian as I have good reason to assume you are, of course."

"I told you to stop insulting me!" Suzaku said. "But I was just about to head off to dinner when you woke up. I suppose you can come, if you want."

The frog looked at him haughtily. "Thank you," it said dryly. "Now, are you going to carry me, or are you seriously expecting me to walk there by myself in this condition?"

"Stupid frog," Suzaku said, but he held out his hand to the small animal, and after giving it a long, scrutinizing look, the frog crawled onto it in the manner a King might enter a highly inadequate carriage offered to him by a peasant.

Suzaku thought it was kind of cute.

"Whatever is the matter? _Move_. If I was paying you, you would just have lost your occupation."

Then he came back to his senses.


End file.
